Spinal Injury – A Better Chance With Flexible Implantables

The story starts with Gregoire Courtine and his team of scientists. They were using old implants in mice with spinal injury problems. In their work, they were trying to get the mice walk again. However, the rigid wires ended up damaging the mice’s nervous systems.

Courtine decided that here has to be a better way. There has to be a better material that would not damage the nervous system in its patients. Few months later, together with the electrical engineer Stéphanie Lacour, they came up with a new type of implant.

It is a new material that has the same ability to bend and stretch just as the “dura mater.” That is the membrane that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. It is from soft silicone, flexible gold wires, and rubbery electrodes flecked with platinum. It also has a microchannel through which the researchers can pump in the drugs needed in a spinal injury case. They call it “e-dura.”

Their work adds to the ongoing advances in flexible electronics. More doctors and experts are collaborating to make patches that match the properties of the skin but also include circuits, smart sensors. It is the age of digital health.

A growth-driven and strategic executive, Peter Coffaro commands more than 20 years of progressive management success within the medical device industry. As a District Sales Manager for Stryker Orthopaedics, Peter was responsible for managing and directing a regional sales force to achieve sales and profit goals within the Rocky Mountain region. Previously, he was the Director of Sales & Marketing for Amp Orthopedics. In this role, Peter was responsible for planning, developing, and leading all sales and marketing initiatives. Peter is a former orthopedic distributor in the Pacific Northwest. He has also worked with DePuy Orthopaedics as well as Zimmer, and held positions in sales, sales training, and sales management. Peter has an extensive background in organizational development, business development, sales management, negotiating and P&L management. Peter holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Northern Illinois University.

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OrthoFeed is a blog about orthopedics and emerging medical technologies. The blog posts cover a wide range of digital health topics including: 3-D Printing, Robotics, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. The website is updated daily to help our viewers stay on top of industry trends. The OrthoFeed motto is “We curate, you discover!”